1. First two tracks feel kinda samey. I think it had something to do with the fact that they're played in D and that was a rarity before GR (Demon of the Fall and BWP are the only two I can immediately think of) so it subconsciously feels like I'm listening to a different band or something weird like that.
Already know how you feel about GR and why, but I wanted to zero in on your first point (about Ghost of Perdition and The Baying of the Hounds). I don't know if anyone else sees it this way, but I think that the two sound the same because the songs are connected. Not exactly in two halves of a whole way, but pretty damn close. You could almost say that Harlequin Forest also relates to this, more to Baying than to Ghost ("Baying behind me/I hear the hounds"), and Baying relates to Beneath The Mire in a small way thanks to the AWESOME middle section (
). There's a lot of interrelation on this album. Not so much that it's a true concept album, but enough to make me think that a lot of it was intertwined for a reason. Now, what that reason is? No clue.
I know that this probably won't convince you of anything, I just wanted to share some of my thoughts on why it's in my Top 3.